Hard Rain
by Bob Dylan
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Bob Dylan bestography
Hard Rain is ranked 43rd best out of 81 albums by Bob Dylan on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Bob Dylan is Highway 61 Revisited which is ranked number 29 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 25,182.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Hard Rain on YouTube
Hard Rain track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Hard Rain rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum year 1976 | 52/70 | - |
| 2026 | dukeboxkool | Top 88 Music Albums of 1976 | 33/88 | 3 |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1976 | 30/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 61 Music Albums of 1976 | 33/61 | 2 |
| 2026 | javicho07 | Top 31 Music Albums of 1976 | 24/31 | 1 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1976 | 57/100 | - |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 67 Music Albums of 1976 | 8/67 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Norman Bates | Top 97 Music Albums of 1976 | 73/97 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Liedzeit | Top 97 Music Albums of 1976 | 39/97 | 3 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 58/100 | 9 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 57 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 87 | |||
Hard Rain collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 79 members
Hard Rain ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 122 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/10/2026 07:13 | brent13 | 2,179 | 66/100 |
| ! | 05/16/2026 16:21 | Gedi | 367 | 83/100 |
| ! | 04/25/2026 07:37 | dukeboxkool | 2,250 | 72/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 71.3/100, a mean average of 69.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.6.
Hard Rain favourites
Showing all 8 members who have added this album as a favourite
Hard Rain forum mentions
CharlieBarley 07/25/2021 10:17 in What album are you listening to right now?Hard Rain comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
A fair summary of Dylan's "Rolling Thunder Review' concert series....nothing more, nothing less.
What a god awful racket. I love Dylan, but this is terrible. The Bootleg series edition from the same tour, or at least another part of it, is far superior, but Dylan never been great when it comes to live albums. Sounds like it was recorded in a corrugated iron tent in a rainstorm.
It's nice to hear Dylan's later takes on some of his classic material. Some work, others don't. You know he got tired doing the same old songs in the same old way. It's not a must have album though.
Decent live album that seems a little incomplete as it's only a portion of the show. Lacks fire on some of the performances.
Mercury TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/05/2014 16:02 | #99888
4 January 2014
"Hard Rain" is a somewhat up and down affair. Thankfully the ups outweigh the downs. The points that come across as tired or lacking vitality are not many but they are there. I feel this on "I Threw It All Away" and somewhat on "You're A Big Girl Now" specifically in Dylan's vocals on there. And I just generally don't care too much for "Maggie's Farm" and the version here is no exception.
There are also a lot of real highs on here. The run in the middle of the record from "Stuck Inside Of Mobile" to "Oh Sister" to "Lay lady Lay" is just triumphant! This version of "Oh Sister" features the band in top form. They really managed to capture that same beautiful mystery contained in "Desire" live. I actually think the version here may be better than the studio version.
And the harmonies and the funky feel of "Lay Lady Lay" and "Stuck Inside Of Mobile" is pretty much as good as it gets.
The instrumental work on "Shelter From The Storm" and especially the killer guitar is great. The vocals drop the ball a bit, but what can ya do. And the lush and spot-on playing on "You're A Big Girl Now" is another real standout.
The final track "Idiot Wind" feels like it lacks a certain fire and energy and this drags. Bummer it has to end in a low note there.
Overall this is a solid live document. The main issue is it doesn't feel like it's fresh and new for large sections here. The recordings here were from the very end of that brilliant but exhausting "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour. So that may account for some of the lack of vitality I hear in Dylan and the band.
Another problem is that now that Bootleg Series 5 "The Rolling Thunder Revue" has been released, this album is sort of an afterthought and not the definitive live representation of this era of live music for Dylan.
Still, it's pretty good.
Grade: 75/100
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
